Self-contained escape device for submerged vessels



Feb. 10, 1942. c, w REED, JR 7 2,272,952

SELF-CONTAINED ESCAPE DEVICE FOR SUBMERGED VESSELS Filed June 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 iLil Feb. 10, 1942. c. w. REED, JR 2,272,952

SELF-CONTAINED ESCAPE DEVICE FOR SUBMERGED VESSELS F iled June 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 10, 1942 o srres SELF-CONTAINED ESCAPE DEVICE FOR SUBMERGED VESSELS Charles W. Reed, Jr., Mobile, Ala. Application June 24, 1941, Serial No. 399,521

3 Claims.

The improved escape device comprising the present invention is primarily adapted for use in connection with sea-going submarine vessels. The invention, however, is capable of other uses and the same may, with or without modification, be employed in connection with surface-cruising vessels for use in the event that such vessels become submerged.

Heretofore, considerable loss of life ha occurred because of the inability of the crew of a submarine boat to escape from the vessel when the latter springs a, leak while submerged or for any other reason fails to return to the'surface of the water. The principal object of the present invention is to prevent such needless loss of life by providing an eilicient and reliable means of escape for the crew of a submarine vessel under the conditions set forth above.

In carrying out the above mentioned object the invention contemplates the provision of a submarine lifeboat in the form of a watertight compartment mounted in the submarine or other vessel and releasable therefrom at will. The lifeboat or compartment is buoyant in the water and is provided with means whereby it may be entered by the submarine crew and then sealed for subsequent release and vertical movement through the water to the surface by virtue of its inherent buoyancy.

Another object of the invention is to provide an escape device of the character set forth above havin mechanical means operable by the submarine crew from within the life saving compartment or operable by an outside rescue crew from a point exteriorly of the submarine and compartment for lifting the compartment out of the submarine and transfer of the crew to the surface of the water.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanical lifting means for the submarine lifeboat which is extremely simple in its construction, consisting as it does of a system of gearing which is rugged and durable and which is, therefore, unlikely to get out of order.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a mechanical lifting means for the lifeboat or compartment which is independently operable from one or more points or locations and which, when so operated, will serve to bodily and uni formly lift the compartment from the vessel Without tilting the compartment, thereby elimihating the danger of the compartment binding against the sides of the cavity or recess in the vessel in which it is mounted.

a detachable submarin lifeboat or compartment which, when mounted in position in the submarine or other vessel for which it is intended does not materially alter the conventional marine design of the submarine nor in any way interfere with its normal operation or propulsion.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an anchoring means whereby th lifesaving compartment, although detachable and bodily movable away from the submarine vessel body is cableor chain-anchored to the main submarine body in such a manner that when the compartment arrives at the surface of the water it will be retained in the vicinity of the submerged vessel to afford an indication of the position of the vessel for salvage purposes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time enumerated, will become readily apparent as the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,

' ensues.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a submarine vessel constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention showing the same afloat.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the vessel.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the submerged vessel showing the life saving compartment released therefrom but anchored thereto and afloat.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the lifeboat or compartment per se.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional View showing certain details of the lifting mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view, diagrammatic in its representation of the lifting mechanism for the lifeboat.

In all of the above described views, like characters of reference are employed to designate Another object of the invention is to provide 55 like parts throughout.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a submarine vessel is designated in its entirety at 58 and is of conventional construction except that it is formed with a cavity l2 in its body portion having a bottom wall M, side walls [6, and front and rear walls E8. For illustrative purposes the cavity 12 is shown as being formed in the upper deci: 2a of the vessel and substantially centrally thereof but it will be understood that the cavity may be at any desired point in the upper deck, either at the front, the rear, or either side thereof, or in certain instances the cavity may be formed in one of the side walls of the vessel.

Disposed within the cavity I2 is a box-like lifeboat or compartment 22 having a bottom I'I, side walls I9, front and rear walls 2I, and a top deck 23 provided with a lookout or observation tower 25. The compartment 22 is separable from the vessel and preferably has a slight clearance from the various walls of the cavity [2 in order to initially overcome any tendency for the compartment to become frozen therein due to unequal expansion of metal or due to suction. A plurality of vertical ribs 21 (Fig. 6) are formed on the side walls I9 exteriorly thereof and extend into guideways or grooves 29 formed in the side walls of the cavity I2. The ribs 21 and guideways 29 serve to prevent tilting of the compartment 22 relative to the cavity I2 in which it is mounted thus affording a still further safeguard against freeing or binding of the lifeboat in the recess.

The top deck 23 is provided with front and rear hatches 3| and 33 respectively, which are provided with sealing gaskets and suitable fastening devices 3?. These latter hatches afford means of egress for the crew from the lifeboat or compartment 22 when the latter is at the surface of the water. A hatch 3I establishes communication between the interior of the lifeboat and the tower 25.

The lifeboat or compartment 22 is air tight and is water tight and may be entered from the vessel proper through a pair of registering doors or hatches 24 and 28, the hatch 24 opening upwardly and inwardly of the compartment and being located in the floor or bottom I! thereof and the hatch 28 being located in the bottom wall I4 of the cavity I2 and opening downwardly and inwardly of the body proper of the vessel I0. It is obvious that the hatches 24 and 28 need not necessarily be located in the bottom walls of the recess and compartment, but may be located in register in any of the side walls thereof if desired.

Suitable gaskets or the like shown at 39 serve to maintain the registering hatches 24 and 28 water-tight in order that intercommunication between the compartment and the body of the vessel proper may be had when the vessel is submerged. A series of spacing strips 32 formed of compressible material are disposed between the bottom wall of the recess I2 and the bottom of the lifeboat or compartment and are maintained under compression when the lifeboat is installed in position within the recess I2 for a purpose and in a manner that will appear pres ently. Suitable fastening devices 34 and 35 are provided for the hatches 24 and 28, respectively, for holding the same closed when deemed necessary.

Referring now to Figs. 4, 5,. 6 and '7 wherein the lifeboat. elevating means is best ilustrated, the elevating means performs the dual function of lifting the lifeboat out of the recess or cavity [2 as well as serving to recess permanently until such time as an emergency requiring its release arrives.

A pair of bearing block members 50 and 52 are riveted or otherwise secured to the floor of the lifeboat interiorly thereof and adjacent the front and rear of the lifeboat at one side thereof. Each member includes a curved connecting arm 56 havingbearings 58 and 60 formed at the ends thereof and extending at right angles to each other. Front and rear horizontal operating lock the same within the shafts 62 and 64 extend through the respective bearings and bridge the distance between the side walls I9 of the lifeboat and project through these walls and are journalled in the latter by means of suitable packing glands 66. The projecting ends of the shafts 62 and 64 have mounted thereon pinions 68 which mesh with toothed racks It which are disposed within recesses I2 formed in the side walls I6 of the cavity I2 and which extend vertically from points adjacent the bottom wall l4 to the upper edge of V the cavity.

The disposition of the various pinions 68 and racks I0 is such that rotation of the shafts 62 and 64 in opposite directions will serve to cause the pinions to creep upwardly or downwardly as the case may be on the racks in order to elevate or lower the lifeboat from or into the cavity as required. Means is provided whereby this elevation or lowering of th lifeboat may be controlled by the crew of the submarine vessel from within the lifeboat or by a rescue crew operating exteriorly of the lifeboat and submarine.

Toward this end, a bevel gear I2 is mounted on each shaft 62 and 64 adjacent the inner end of the bearings 60 and each gear 12 meshes with a similar bevel gear I4. The gears I4 are carried at the front and rear ends respectively of a longitudinally extending operating shaft I6 which is journalled in the bearings 58.

The operating shaft I6 is provided with a ratchet wheel I8 in the medial regions thereof the peripheral teeth of which are designed for cooperation with an operating pawl 82 car ried by a tiltable oscillatable lever 84 which is journalled at 86 on the shaft I6. Manual oscillation of the lever 84 serves to rotate the shaft I6 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5 in order that the shafts 64 will be rotated in such directions that the pinions 68 will move downwardly in unison on their respective racks 1.0. A locking pawl 88 serves to hold the shaft I6 against counter-clockwise rotation and thus, when the lifeboat has been lowered in this manner into the recess or cavity I2 the sealing gasket 30 and resilient strips 32 may be held under a positive degree of compression. When it is desired to rotate the shaft 16 in a counter-clockwise direction the pawl 88 may be moved to an inoperative position to release the ratchet wheel 78.

In order to elevate the lifeboat from the recess I2, a ratchet and pawl mechanism 90 which is similar in every respect to the mechanism just described except for its direction of positive stroke is mounted on the shaft I6 ahead of the former mechanism. A locking pawl 92 serves to prevent the force of gravity from returning the lifeboat to its normal position and thus the mechanism 80 functions as a manually operable jack whereby the lifeboat may be elevated from its cavity 22.

In order that the lifeboat may be elevated from the cavity I2 by an outside rescue crew operating from a point exteriorly of the submarine, an upwardly extending shaft 94, the lower end of which is journalled in a cage 96 carried by the shaft I6 is geared by means of cooperating bevel gears 98 and I00 to the shaft I6 and projects upwardly through the top deck 23 of the lifeboat and extends completely through the observation tower 25. The free end of the shaft 94 extends above the top of the tower and is squared as at I62 for reception of a jack handle or the like. A suitable packing gland I04 is provided at the top-of the shaft 94 at the point where this shaft projects through the top of the tower.

A portion of the shaft 94 is threaded as at I at a region Where the shaft passes through the upper deck 23 of the lifeboat and is in threaded engagement with the boss I 06 formed on the upper deck. By such an arrangement the entire shaft 94 and the gear Hi0 thereon may be elevated and disassociated from the operating shaft l6 when the latter is actuated by the crew from within the lifeboat. When the shaft 94 is employed for actuation of the lifting apparatus the threads H15 are allowed to run out of engagement with the threaded boss "16 in order that the shaft may be lowered to its fullest extent.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and '7, means is provided whereby the lifeboat may be anchored to the submarine body in order to prevent drifting of the former when the same is at the surface of the water. In this manner the lifeboat may serve as a buoy to give the approximate location of the sunken vessel. Toward this end a plurality of cables I06 are secured to suitable lugs I08 formed on the bearing members 52 and extend downwardly through small apertures H0 in the bottom wall or floor I! of the lifeboat. The ends of these cables I06 are anchored to lugs H2 (Fig. 3) carried on the bottom Wall [4 of the cavity l2. Obviously, if the crew of the lifeboat, upon reaching the surface of the water desire to cast away from the sunken vessel they may sever the cables I06 and seal the apertures I [0 in any suitable manner.

It is believed that from the above description the nature and operation of the herein described submarine lifeboat will be clearly understood. The invention in its broadest aspect is concerned merely with the provision of a lifeboat for submarines which is embedded, so to speak, within the hull of the submarine vessel and which may be released therefrom when required. Obviously, in this lifeboat there may be installed such auxiliary equipment for the boat or for the members of the crew as is deemed expedient. For example, the lifeboat may contain oxygen tanks to sustain the crew. The tower 25 thereof may be provided with sighting apertures or even suitable armament if desired. The invention is not limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in the specification as various changes of detail in construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a submarine vessel having a sealed cavity formed in the upper deck thereof, of a sealed buoyant lifeboat having a shell or hull portion removably disposed within said cavity, a plurality of vertically extending toothed racks secured to the side walls of said cavity and extending from points adjacent the bottom of the latter to points adjacent the rim thereof, a plurality of shafts extending horizontally through the side Walls of the lifeboat hull, a pinion mounted on each shaft exteriorly of the hull and meshing with a respective rack, and means disposed within the lifeboat for rotating said pinions in unison.

2. The combination with a submarine vessel having a sealed cavity formed in the upper deck thereof, of a sealed buoyant lifeboat having a shell or hull portion removably disposed within said cavity, a pair of oppositely disposed vertically extending toothed racks secured to the opposite side walls of said cavity adjacent the forward end thereof and a similar pair of oppositely disposed vertically extending toothed racks secured to said side walls adjacent the rear end thereof, front and rear transverse horizontal shafts extending completely through the hull of the lifeboat and having their free ends projecting outwardly therefrom, a pinionon each of said free ends, and meshing with one of said racks, means connecting said shafts for rotation in unison, and a step-by-step operating device disposed within the lifeboat for rotating said shafts.

3. The combination with a submarine vessel having a sealed cavity formed in the upper deck thereof, of a sealed buoyant lifeboat having a shell or hull portion removably disposed within said cavity, said lifeboat having an upper deck lying in the plane of the upper deck of the submarine vessel and forming a substantial continuation thereof, a pair of oppositely disposed vertically extending toothed racks secured to the opposite side walls of said cavity adjacent the forward end thereof and a similar pair of oppositely disposed vertically extending toothed racks secured to said side walls adjacent the rear end thereof, front and rear transverse horizontal shafts extending completely through the hull of the lifeboat and having their free ends projecting outwardly therefrom, a pinion on each of said free ends, and meshing with one of said racks, a longitudinally extending shaft mounted for rotation within the lifeboat, gearing carried by said shafts and connecting the same for rotation in unison and a manually operable ratchet mechanism disposed within the lifeboat for rotating the longitudinally extending shaft in step-bystep fashion.

CHARLES W. REED, JR. 

